Day 24: We were catching up with Ali, our motorhoming friend from Australia today and had arranged to meet at Royal Wootton Bassett for lunch. It was a perfect opportunity to visit Devizes on the way and check out the locks on the Kennett & Avon Canal.

The 16 Caen Hill locks form part of an amazing system that links London to Bristol.

The locks here take boats 72 metres or 237 feet down to the Avon valley over a distance of 3.2 kms or 2 miles. Can you imagine the time it must take to enter a lock, wait for it to adjust the water level, move to the next lock and repeat this 15 times over that short distance?

Grundle and Grimple put their shoulders to the wheel, so to speak, but fortunately couldn’t open the gates and let the water rush through.

We stopped for an ice cream at the Caen Hill Cafe and hoped we would see a barge navigate the system but it wasn’t to be.

There were several barges moored however, quite a few as permanent residences with flourishing gardens.

It was fascinating to read about the locks and would have been amazing to see them in action. Even so, it was a worthwhile experience on our way to Royal Wootton Bassett, where we met up with Ali and her sister and had lunch at The Angel.

After lunch we took a side trip to the very quaint village of Sandy Lane. Warning! My next blog is a thatched cottage overload!